Cliff

Review: The Wide, Wide Sea

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  The Wide, Wide Sea, written by Anna Wilson and illustrated by Jenny Løvlie,  is published by Nosy Crow in collaboration with the National Trust and will make a valuable addition to any bookshelf, school library or topic box. This lyrical text explores two days in the life of a little girl enjoying the excitement of sharing the delights of an unspoilt beach with her grandmother. Whilst gazing out at the horizon she spots a seal which tempts her in … Read more

Review: The Book Of Trespass

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  Nick Hayes’ The Book Of Trespass shocks, challenges and informs our understanding and acceptance of land ownership and the law in England.  William the Conqueror began the process of exclusion, defining the royal forests as spaces from which commoners were barred then parcelling up huge areas to gift to his barons who assumed ownership and exclusive power over use of the land. The following centuries saw almost all the remaining common land claimed piecemeal by acts of enclosure as powerful landowners … Read more

The 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist

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The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best sci-fi novel published during the previous year. Since celebrated author Arthur C. Clarke gave a grant to establish the award in 1987, notable past winners have included Margaret Atwood, China Miéville, Colson Whitehead and Emily St. John Mandel. Always interesting and diverse, the shortlist serves as an excellent primer for the latest, most exciting titles in the genre. The winner will be revealed in September. The Infinite … Read more

Review: Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City

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  Rob Biddulph is an award-winning author and illustrator of picture books, but this is his first published novel and we can easily see it garnering more awards for him! Peanut Jones is miserable because her beloved artist father has gone missing but whilst looking through the collection of illustrated post-its he drew for her, she discovers a secret compartment in the box with a worn down pencil. Peanut can’t believe her eyes when she draws a quick sketch only … Read more

Books Make Good Companions

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As a social enterprise, The Bookery actively seeks to help people within our community. Many of our projects focus on health and wellbeing including reading to residents in care homes and dementia cafes, promoting national campaigns about books on health, community engagement activities and supporting individuals through employment and volunteering activities. Loneliness is seen by many as one of the largest health concerns we face and evidence suggests loneliness is one of the feelings millions have experienced during the coronavirus … Read more

Football Books To Take Extra Time Over

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With the country once more in the grips of football fever thanks to the Euros, now is the perfect time to seek out some of the more interesting and possible overlooked books which show the economic, social and psychological angles of our most beloved national sport.   Africa United: How Football Explains Africa by Steve Bloomfield Travelling to twelve countries across the vast continent, Steve Bloomfield tells the story of modern day Africa through the lens of it’s obsession with … Read more

Review: Lost Children Archive

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  A thrillingly ambitious novel that spotlights the cruelties and injustices of child migration from Central America to the USA. Telling the stories of one family’s road trip to the deserts of Arizona to find the homeland and memorials of the last free Apaches and the desperate train journey taken by some ‘illegal’ child migrants, Luiselli creates compelling drama and confronts the shocking hypocrisies of America. The narrator and her husband met and married during a long sound archiving project. … Read more

Review: Skyborn

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  Past mysteries and present crises collide in a whirlwind adventure that explores family, friendship, and standing up for what you believe in. The Quinn Family Circus is in need of a new headline act. Ever since Bastjan’s mother died in a terrible aerobatic accident, ticket sales have been declining. Now, in desperation, the ruthless ringmaster is looking to Bastjan to revive his mother’s act. Far away and a long time ago, Ester disobeys her parents to explore the mysterious … Read more

Review: Crazy

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  Jane, somewhere around a mid-point in life, finds herself at a moment of reckoning. A creative writing tutor, she suffers from both an unsteady sense of conviction in her task and acute, shifting physical pains that strike at unpredictable moments. Reflecting on the formative relationships in her life, she recalls the conflicts and currents of childhood and family life – stumbling attempts at intimacy, and in particular an early, shattering encounter that lead to a life-long connection with a … Read more

A Long Look At Hemingway

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Ernest Hemingway was one of the most important and divisive literary figures of the twentieth century – ahead of a major TV documentary series on his life, Cliff looks at his works and influence: Around fifteen years ago, I decided I would spend an entire month devoted to Ernest Hemingway. I’ve always enjoyed setting myself peculiar goals, and this was borne out of the fact that, apart from reading The Sun Also Rises as a precocious teenager, I hadn’t really … Read more